'canal house cooks every day' on Serious Eats

Summer is pesto time, at least in my house. Almost every green leaf I can get my hands on, from basil and parsley to carrot tops and kale, will get a whirl in the food processor with the requisite garlic, nuts, cheese, and olive oil over the course of the season. Yet despite my willingness to push pesto boundaries, I've never slipped in anchovies and green olives. This idea, from Melissa Hamilton and Christopher Hirsheimer'sCanal House Cooks Every Day, was a revelation. More

Summer is pesto time, at least in my house. Almost every green leaf I can get my hands on, from basil and parsley to carrot tops and kale, will get a whirl in the food processor with the requisite garlic, nuts, cheese, and olive oil over the course of the season. Yet despite my willingness to push pesto boundaries, I've never slipped in anchovies and green olives. This idea, from Melissa Hamilton and Christopher Hirsheimer'sCanal House Cooks Every Day, was a revelation. More

I have a terrible habit of stockpiling open jars of jams and jellies in the fridge. Inevitably, the second half of the jar will languish in the back of the fridge after I've grown tired of that particular strawberry, peach, or blackberry preserve. So recipes like Melissa Hamilton and Christopher Hirsheimer's little toasts with preserved strawberries and jamón serrano in Canal House Cooks Every Day are a godsend (to me and my sad, half-empty jars). Pairing sweet, tender strawberries with salty, fatty ham is an easy way to battle jam palate fatigue as it turns a breakfast staple into a fast hors d'oeuvre. More

I have a terrible habit of stockpiling open jars of jams and jellies in the fridge. Inevitably, the second half of the jar will languish in the back of the fridge after I've grown tired of that particular strawberry, peach, or blackberry preserve. So recipes like Melissa Hamilton and Christopher Hirsheimer's little toasts with preserved strawberries and jamón serrano in Canal House Cooks Every Day are a godsend (to me and my sad, half-empty jars). Pairing sweet, tender strawberries with salty, fatty ham is an easy way to battle jam palate fatigue as it turns a breakfast staple into a fast hors d'oeuvre. More

Strawberries may be going out of season in much of the country, but the few remaining berries are worth seeking out to preserve à la Canal House Cooks Every Day. Melissa Hamilton and Christopher Hirsheimer have developed a very precise method for preserving these typically finicky berries. With an addition of lemon peel for pectin and a vigorous boil of the sugar and juice, this recipe yields a barely set syrup that envelopes the tender berries. More

Let's get this out of the way first: Canal House Cooks Every Day is a gorgeous book, designed to be a collectors item just as much as a cookbook. This fact is not surprising given the elegant minimalist aesthetic of co-authors Melissa Hamilton and Christopher Hirsheimer. The duos' quarterly magazine and daily blog posts are similarly anchored by their signature overhead shots of simple, seasonal dishes--the photographs themselves would make for a lovely coffee table book. More